To Be Or Not To Be
by zakenna.d
Summary: (Books 3 and up / Cursed Child Doesn't Exist) Rainessalynn Fawley, Rain for short. Raised by older brother, Chris, and her best friend, Heston, after the disappearance of the rest of her family. One night, Chris came home from work with the offer of working at Hogwarts. Accepting the job and going to Hogwarts with a killer on the loose may be a bit more than Rain bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The silence was deafening one night after dinner as my brother, Chris, brought me to his study. He said he had something important he wanted to get my opinion on before he replied. Now, sitting on the mahogany floor in front of the fireplace, I waited for him to speak.

Several times, he opened his mouth as if he were going to actually start talking, only to close it again with either a sigh or a facepalm. "Rain," He said at last, grabbing some of my attention with the use of my nickname, though my eyes continued to stare at the hearth. "I've been offered a job by an old friend of mine and," He trailed off, taking a deep breath before trying to explain. "The pay is good, and we won't have to worry about my boss firing me suddenly." I glanced up at the desk before resuming my original position. There was something wrong with the job. He wouldn't have brought me into the situation otherwise. "It's really a good opportunity. It's just," He paused again, his eyes narrowed.

And there it was. The cause for this whole one-sided conversation. "What's stopping you from taking the job if it's so good?" I asked. "You know I'll go along with whatever you decide."

"It's a teaching job at Hogwarts. You remember seeing me off to school, right?"

I chuckled, thinking of all the stories my siblings had told me each year when they returned for the holidays. "So the legendary school of witchcraft and wizardry wants a twenty three year old, ex-mischief maker for a teacher? May I just say now that I fear for the lives of the students who find themselves stuck with you. What would you teach, anyway? You told me that the only teacher that really changes is defense against the dark arts but you remember less about that than what Alix taught me." I imagined Chris standing in front of a class of first years, at a complete loss for words when a student asked him one of the most simple of questions, and then a more serious thought occurred to me. "So, if you're teaching then where am I going to be? Mom died ages ago, dad hasn't been seen since I was seven, and according to whoever's in charge of child custody, we don't have any other living relatives besides Mya and Alix, who went with dad."

Chris laughed. "You'll see what I teach later but for now, I talked to the headmaster and he said you should become a student and some kind of magical school, be it hogwarts or otherwise and has offered to let you come with me and enroll. He said that because you spent the last two years searching for Mya and Alix, causing the lack attendance at a magical school at the proper age has made it much more difficult for you to get into one of the other schools but since you were studying curriculum according to what Hogwarts teaches each year while you were looking, you could transfer in with a lot less trouble than normal. Since you'd been studying all the required fields while Alix was in attendance, you should already be caught up to the people your age. Alix didn't disappear until the summer after his fourth year, so you can test out of those classes you missed."

"Right. Because I want to make myself out to be a freak of nature in front of a bunch of people I may very well be stuck with until I'm eighteen." I turned to face Chris, a subject change popping up right when I needed it. "So what's the deal with that murderer on the loose? The guy with the really weird name who broke out of Azkaban. The daily prophet said that he killed a lot of people too, but I can't remember the exact number."

That got Chris's attention away from school like a charm. "Twelve muggles and a wizard. And now he's apparently gotten out of Azkaban." His voice sounded worried as he continued. "The ministry's gone bullistic looking for him. They have dementors doing routine checks all over Great Britain. Dumbledore said that they've decided to place them around Hogwarts as well."

I lowered my head to my knees momentarily, before getting to my feet. My topic change definitely hadn't gone very well. Then again, they rarely did when one brings a murderer into the mix. I'll have to keep that in mind next time, but it's too late now. "Back to the job offer, take it if you want it. The old man was right in saying that I should actually attend a school instead of using my brother's old books to study on my own. I might as well go to Hogwarts if Dumbledore's already offered me a place. Knowing my plans, your acceptance of the job is completely your own choice."

"I guess if you're really okay with enrolling, I'll take the job. Dumbledore sent me with your supply list just in case, so we can go shopping tomorrow to get everything you'll need." He pulled a piece of parchment from his back pocket and handed it to me with a smirk. I glared back at him. I hated shopping, of any kind, with all my heart and he knew it. "I took the liberty of choosing your electives for you since the other third years decided at the end of their second year. I hope you like fortune telling and old languages. I also put you in care of magical creatures because I thought you'd like that class the most. My friend Hagrid is teaching this year due to the retirement of the last professor. You two will get along wonderfully. Especially if you let him meet Heston. He's obsessed with the dangerous beasts, and a magical version of a Python Reticulatus is definitely on that list."

I sighed, grateful that my brother had placed me in at least one decent elective. Animals were my life, be it a mouse of a dragon, I loved them all. Snakes however, were among my favorite. When I was younger, Chris would always tease me about being a slytherin in the future, to which I would always deny. Yes, I liked snakes, but that didn't mean I would ever be in Slytherin. Now, it's a running joke between the two of us that I didn't want to be a slytherin so much that I turned myself into a gryffindor. It wasn't my fault that Chris and Alix liked to play a lot of tricks on me growing up. I was practically forced into being brave.

"It's about time for you to go to bed. You'll have a long day ahead of you." Chris's words brought me out of my memories, and I nodded before making my way to the door. "And don't forget to bring Heston back to your room. The last time you forgot, he managed to scare the daylights out of three owls."

I chuckled. "That wasn't because I forgot. It was because he's a smart snake. He knew I left the window open." I left the study before Chris could say anything more, and skipped to my room. Then I remembered about the shopping tomorrow, and groaned. He was right about it being a long day. After trudging up the stairs and into my bedroom, I jumped into my bed, wishing it were a little more springy. At least I didn't have to worry about bouncing off in my sleep, though it would certainly be something interesting to explain in the morning. I could just see it now. The crash when I hit the floor. Then the booming footsteps when the sound woke up Chris, and finally the laughing when he heard what happened.

Before I could fantasize any farther, Heston slithered in and wrapped himself around my bed post. I smiled, patting his head before I felt myself slowly drifting off.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

 _**Third Person**_

Rain tripped through the red brick wall with a sigh. Chris hadn't bothered to tell her that she'd be traveling without him and she still hadn't managed to get the name of that class he was teaching. The answer was always some stupid "You'll see" or "Patience child."

He was more kid like than she on a normal basis. Well, unless she had candy. One could only describe such a scene as the very definition of chaos when combined with the worst of all hells. To put it simply, enemies and friends alike, beware. The mind of the sugar rush has officially taken over.

Either way, Rain wasn't _usually_ childish, though she did put up quite a fight when her brother mentioned that Heston might not be able to come with her to school. The snake was her only friend and she'd grown up with him at her side. Eventually, Chris wrote a letter to Dumbledore asking for permission to which the old man replied with a list of rules both she and Heston would have to follow if he were to be allowed to join her. Rain sent a letter with her thanks and proceeded to go about her day like nothing had happened. Her friend was going to stay by her side and that was that.

Now, standing on platform nine and three quarters, almost an hour before the train was supposed to leave, Rain didn't know what to do with herself. There were animals everywhere she looked, and people around her age all over the place. She made her way toward the train happily, looking an open compartment. After what felt like half an hour of searching, she found an empty booth near the middle of the train and took a seat by the window, basking in the peaceful a few minutes, she was out like a light, her head resting on the glass and her breathing even.

The girl was completely detached from the world around her, even when Heston began to hiss at a group of loudly chatting slytherins entering the compartment, dragging their brand new trunks with them. After a brief staring contest with, who he assumed to be the leader of the group, Heston stopped hissing, choosing instead to bury himself in the contents of Rain's case. The group, now silently staring at the girl, slowly made their way into the compartment, careful to keep as much room as possible between them and the sleeping figure. After a moment, they began talking again, starting out quietly but getting steadily louder.

It was well over an hour before Rain started to stir. Choosing to ignore the noise around her, the girl kept her eyes closed and started thinking about what Hogwarts would be like. Chris had told her what the school had been like when he was a student, and so had Alix, but the teachers had changed and all of them were more focused on their studies than she was.

A sudden shout from one of the boys caused Rain's thoughts to return to the present.

"You woke her up, you idiot." One of the girls hissed. "What if her snake decides to bite us?"

Rain sighed, turning to the girl who'd just spoken. "Heston won't bite any of you. He's not poisonous either so you can stop making such a big deal out of it." She murmured before checking her watch. It was almost one. "Has the trolley come by yet?"

The girl shook her head, staring up at the luggage rack where Heston was sleeping. "No, it hasn't but it should come soon." Her voice gave away her hesitation easily. "Are you a first year? You don't look eleven, and I don't remember you from around the common room."

A few others signaled their agreement and Rain sighed. She wouldn't be getting out of this encounter easily. That was obvious. "I'm new but I'm coming in as a third year. The cause of this arrangement aren't important, but I'm told that I'll be sorted into a house when we arrive to the castle." Rain stopped talking when the smell of pumpkin pasties came wafting into the compartment. Smiling, she grabbed a few random coins from her pocket.

A good while later, her second stomach filled with all the sweets she'd bought, Rain rested her head on the window again, staring at the rain on the other side of the glass. She could feel the air getting steadily colder, thanking Chris for reminding her to grab her jacket.

"It's getting pretty cold out there, Draco." A boy, apparently named Blaise Zanbini, said uncertainly. "Look. The windows are starting to fog up."

Rain chuckled, drawing a face in the condensation. She paused when she felt a shiver travel down her back. Remembering what her brother had told her about the guardians of Azkaban, she pulled her trunk off the luggage rack and began digging through it until she found a bar of chocolate. When she, accidentally bumped into Heston, the snake began to wrap himself around her neck and began hissing out complaints about the monsters getting closer. "Calm down, Heston. We don't have Black so they aren't supposed to hurt us."

"Do snakes understand english? Does that one know what you're saying?" Theodore Nott asked in interest.

Before Rain could reply, the lights shut off and the train came to a stop. The sound of a sliding door filled the compartment filled the room. Rain froze, staring in the direction of the door, only able to tell where it was because of the screaming Draco, his his feet pounded against the floor as he fled from the compartment.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Rain held her breath. The dementor was hidden in the darkness that had descended minutes earlier, but she could feel the presence well enough as it was. Without Draco in the compartment, in seemed like the others didn't know what to do. After what felt like an eternity一though it couldn't have been more than a few minutes一the Dementor glided out of their compartment and into the next, the effects of its presence slowly fading.

Sighing in relief, Rain broke off a chunk of her chocolate chocolate bar and handed it to Pansy, who ate it silently. Rain chipped off a few more pieces and passed them around to the other slytherins. Without the lights, they struggled to find eachothers hands and Rain ended up tripping a great deal. Eventually, when everyone had a piece and the lights decided to turn back on, she started to nibble at a square of what was left. Within seconds she could feel the movement returning to her body. "Does anybody want to come with me to find Draco?"

There was a series of groans so Rain shrugged and headed into the hallway. Making her way down the row, she glanced into the compartments, looking for the blindingly blonde hair belonging to one Draco Malfoy.

After checking the closest three compartments, she went to the next but stopped when she heard a door slide open with a bang. Looking toward the noise, she smiled when she saw Draco making his way back to their compartment looking rather mortified, though she was sure he'd deny any such accusation.

Without saying a word, she handed him a bite's worth of chocolate before heading back to the compartment, and the group spent the remainder of the trip talking about the dementors and why they were searching the train. It was through this conversation that Rain heard the story behind the imprisonment of the man named Sirius Black and she found it to be more than a little disturbing. If the man who managed to get out of Azkaban did kill all those people before he got arrested, then he was bound to be worse after twelve years of imprisonment with dementors.

Eventually the train came into a stop that Rain assumed to be Hogsmeade station. Nature didn't seem to be into a swamp. There was a half giant which She guessed was the guy named Hagrid, calling for all the first years to gather round. Briefly, she wondered if she was supposed to follow suit but the sound of her name being called soon brought the answer. She turned to see a silhouette, her brother, waving in her direction. With a sigh, she wound her way through the masses until she got the the man she was looking for. "So what do we do now?" She asked, trying to ignore the water streaming from her now completely soaked hair and robes. "If you say we have to hike to the castle, I might just have to murder you."

Chris laughed and pointed at the horseless carriages waiting a little ways away from the station where students tried to squeeze in with their friends. Rain chuckled. No doubt the clean wooden floors would soon be covered in mud. "We'll be taking one of those but I have the job of getting you to another professor's office when we get to the castle so we need to hurry and find a carriage before they're all packed." He glanced at his sister with a raised eyebrow. "Any friends you want to ride with because I'd suggest you find them now."

Rain shrugged. "I don't really care if anyone comes with us. I already told them I'd see them in the great hall for the feast." She then looked at the sky, forgetting for a moment that the world was still being pelted with what could easily have been ice water. She cursed when a drop landed directly in her eye. "Why don't we get out of the rain? I may have its name, but that doesn't mean that I like to drown in it."

"Then, let's go." Chris dragged her to the next empty stagecoach, and the two made their way toward the castle in the distance. Rain spent the time trying to get her brother to tell her which class he was going to teach but he kept changing the subject. "So, now that the actually sorting ceremony is coming up, what house do you want to be in?" He asked casually after ignoring Rain's most recent round of questioning. The girl gave an exaggerated groan and and started tapping on the glass, choosing to give Chris the same treatment that he had given her. Chris shrugged and went back to twiddling his thumbs. "You know," He started after a moment. "I've already told you that you'll find out at the feast, so why do you keep pushing me to tell you now. It should be a surprise to you like it will be for everyone else." Rain huffed, in no mood to care if she sounded childish. She had to act the part of a grownup more than enough to know that it wasn't as great as kids gave it credit for.

She groaned as her brother continued to talk. "Besides that, the game would lose its fun if I told you now." Seeing the look of frustration on his sister's face caused Chris to chuckle. "Just be patient a little while longer child. You'll find the knowledge you seek soon enough. Maybe if you speak to you Divination professor, you'll find out before I have to spell it out for you." He smiled brightly as he added an afterthought. "Of course, you could just leave her tower with the prophecy of your death haunting your dreams,if you take her seriously. Professor Trelawney taught when I went to school and it was one of the easiest classes I had. Predict someone's mass misfortune and you won't have to worry about the OWLs and NEWTs when the time comes."

"And that's the kind of class you signed me up for?" Rain looked up at her brother with a mixture of surprise and humor. "If anyone needs help expanding their imagination, it's you. Your pranks have always been rather predictable."

Chris opened his mouth to deny the words, but stopped when he felt the stagecoach come to a stop. He sighed. "Just try your best in all your classes. I don't want to have to explain to the man who happens to be my employer, why my sister went and pisses off one of her teachers on the first day. You're lucky to be good at potions. Snape's is the easiest class to fail in if you aren't in slytherin."

Rain snorted, jumping out of the carriage. "And I'll bet your house saved your butt a number of times with him alone." She called as she moved to the side. "Last I checked, any situation where you got within a five meter radius of a cauldron ended up in the house nearly burning to the ground. First year level included."

"At least I could play quidditch. I was the best beater around."

Rolling her eyes, Rain made her way up the steps. "Hey dewberry, are you done with you masculinity contest, yet?" She asked after a moment. "Because, if not, I'm going ahead."

As her brother hurried after her, Rain kept walking, trying to ignore the looks from the returning students. They didn't recognise her and somehow that made it okay to stare at her like she was an animal on display. Just that thought was enough to double the nerves she'd been feeling about the whole school idea. "Let's just get this over with. The sooner I have a house, the sooner I can sink into the background or go to sleep."

Chris grinned. "I take it, you've fell off your sugar rush? If you want I could give you a little push. I happen to be quite an expert at _stupify_ if I do say so myself." Rain glared at him, wishing looks could kill.

Sadly enough, a few minutes later Chris was still there in all his wickedly smiling glory, as they stood in front of a door she could only assume belonged to the professor he'd mentioned before. Chris knocked and a woman's voice called for them to enter. When Rain got inside her eyes immediately focused on the two students and two adults standing in the small office.

One of the womenーthe one wearing emerald green robesーnodded to them before turning her attention to the lady flitting about one of the students. "What does he need?" The green clad one asked sharply. Rain turned his gaze to the boy. Amusement at the situation threatened to show itself in the form of laughing, but she held it at bay. The last thing the boy needed was a girl he didn't know to burst out due to his embarrassment. "Bed rest? Should he perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?"

The boy jumped up. "I'm fine!" He shouted.

Rain turned away and started filling her head with random thoughts in an attempt to stay out of their business.

A little while later the boy left and lady green glasses, as Rain had taken to calling the woman, told Chris to grab an old wooden stool from the corner, and instructed Rain to sit down, taking an ancient hat from her desk.

She then turned to Chris with a few more directions. "Make sure to get the sorting hat and the stool to Dumbledore the first years go in." She warned, at last signaling the end of their discussion.

Rain tensed, waiting for the sensation of the hat descending. Soon enough, she felt the weight of the relic. The hat began talking, which she quickly found to be more like muttering to himself inside her mind than actual talking. She twiddled her thumbs and held back the temptation to start humming a really annoying disney song when she came to the realization that at that moment, it really did feel like a small world afterall.

At long last, the word she'd been anxiously awaiting fell from the mouth of the tattered old hat.

 _Gryffindor._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rain laughed. She was in gryffindor just as she and Chris had always joked she would be. She would have done a victory dance if not for the other, obviously more dignified in their actions, people standing in the room. With a sigh she resigned herself to acting the part of a mature adult for a little while longer, reasoning that the weekends spent at Zonko's would make up for at least a portion of the acting she'd have to endure during the adult supervised time.

Lady Green Glasses, passed the hat and stool to Chris with a stern look. "Professor Fawley, need I remind you that their are dozens of new students waiting to be sorted in the great hall?" Chris's previously smiling face turned worried in an instant and he rushed out the door, barely managing to bring the the necessary equipment with him. Rain fought to keep a chuckle from escaping. Throughout her childhood she'd always heard stories about the teachers who managed to keep her brothers out of trouble. Lady Green Glasses must have been one of them, though she'd also been told a fair bit about a man by the name of Severus Snape. In the last thirteen years, he'd managed to make quite a name for himself among the Fawley children.

"Ms. Fawley, would you please wait outside with Mr. Potter. I would like to speak with Ms. Granger for a moment."

Nodding, Rain stood and made her way to the hall where the boy she'd seen before was standing quietly. Choosing to remain silent, she pressed her back against the wall beside the office door. Clearly the boy didn't seem to have much of a problem with the lack of conversation, so she closed her eyes and waited for the lady to come out.

After a few minutes, a girl with bushy brown hair came bouncing out, followed by Lady Green Glasses and together the four made their way down the great hall where students sat at four long tables with a fifth at the front, filled with the teachers.

"Oh," The girl, Rain learned her name was Hermione, whispered, sounding rather deflated. "We've missed the sorting!"

Rain chuckled softly and watched as Professor McGonagall made her way to the head table, taking the only empty seat. Looking around, she saw Draco and the group of Slytherins she'd met on the train . She waved before turning her attention the Hermione who was pointing at the table where the gryffindors sat.

She followed the two and watched as they took a seat on either side of a redhead. Shrugging she sat a few seats away, and was immediately bombarded with questions from the people around her. The amount of attention set her on edge and she silently thanked whoever was in heaven when a white bearded man stood to address the students. She looked at the head table, waiting for an interesting announcement among the boring ones. Soon enough Dumbledore began to introduce the new teachers and Rain smirked. Her brother's luck had officially ended. Glancing up at the Headmaster, she straightened by the slightest margin, awaiting the answer to her month long question.

"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts." Rain's brow creased when she heard the lack of applause from the majority of the students. Rain rolled her eyes, focusing again on Dumbledore. "As our last new appointments," The poor excuse of clapping stopped. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and Professor Babbling, our Study of Ancient Runes teacher, have both resigned. However, I am delighted to say that the place of Professor Kettleburn will be taken by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties." The room suddenly filled with thundering applause and Rain found that Gryffindor seemed to be carrying most of the noise. When the clapping calmed down, Dumbledore continued. "As for the role of Ancient Runes professor, Christopher Fawley has accepted the invitation happily, and will be teaching from now on." There was another round of applause, this time centering around the Slytherin table.

Rain froze when she heard a voice a few seats away mutter to his friends. "Leave it to the snakes to welcome another snake." He continued, glaring at the head table. "I bet we'll have another Snape on our hands before the night is through."

Taking a deep breath, Rain tried not to shout at her new housemates. She didn't care if they decided to badmouth her, but judging her brother because of his last name was going too far. It became apparent that her thoughts were a lot more predictable than Rain realized, when her brother gave her a stern look. He knew what she was about to do, no doubt about it.

Soon enough, Dumbledore finished his speech and the feast began. Within seconds, Rain was once again the center of attention along with the dark haired boy she'd met in McGonagall's office. She ended up sharing a very condensed and heavily censored version of her life story as well as the reason she wasn't sorted with the rest of the first years. This led to questions about what kept her from starting two years earlier, and after another few minutes of interrogations, Rain found that she'd overstepped her socializing limits for the night. She nearly fell to her knees in relief when the headmaster excused everyone to bed. Rain stood, following the crowd of students wearing red and gold striped ties. She paused when she was Blaise Zabini waving to her over from off to the side.

"So you're in Gryffindor, then?" He asked, not bothering to hide is distaste in the other house.

Rain shrugged before responding. "At least I'm a Gryffindor with a sense of self preservation. I was raised by slytherin so it would be pretty difficult to suddenly change my mind about the house." She looked back at the slowly thinning line of her housemate. "I need to head to the dorms before I get locked out without a password, so I'll see all of you in the morning." She nodded respectfully before rushing to join that last couple lions.

At last she came to a portrait of a lady dressed in pink. "Coming through, coming through!" Shouted a boy standing beside her, making his way to the front of the cluster. "The new password's 'Fortuna Major"!"

Rain sighed, mentally preparing for the near impossible task of remembering, what was to her, a random pair of words. She chuckled when she heard a boy named Neville voice similar thoughts in two words. "Oh no," he said sadly.

' _Oh no' is right,_ Rain thought. "At least you aren't in this alone." She whispered, giving the boy a needed encouraging pat on the back. "I've been the same way for ages."

Neville laughed nervously as they made their way into the common room. As soon as the reminders about dorm rooms were made, Rain hurried up the girls stairwell and into the room she'd be in for the next few years of her life. She spotted her bed immediately due to the four foot long snake curled up on the pillow.

Sliding Heston off the pillow, Rain snuggled into the warmth of her bed and tried her best to find sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rain awoke the next morning to hissing and the feeling of Heston wrapping tightly around her left arm. "I do need that limb, you know." She muttered, making sure she didn't bother the other girls. Heston replied by tightening his hold even further. "You're such a pain. Can't you just let me sleep a little longer?" Heston shook his head and loosened his grip on the arm before slithering off the bed. With a groan, Rain sat up and dragged her trunk out from under her bed. Quickly, she changed into her robes, grabbed her wand and followed after the impatient snake.

"We can't leave the common room yet, so what do you want to do?"

As soon as the words were out, Heston turned around and tapped her shin with his snout. Rain chuckled as he then began to slither away. They hadn't played their version of tag together in ages.

Taking one look at her friend, Rain made a quick jab at Heston's tail, barely managing contact. She jumped over one of the couches and bolted across the room. Heston followed soon after, chanting of his easy victory.

"Impedimenta." The snake's speed diminished.

The spell hit Heston with just enough time for Rain to get away. Heston stopped and began to hiss that it was unfair for her to use magic, and she shrugged. "You're using magic too, honey. Normal reticulated pythons couldn't dream of doing half the things you can. Since you're magical, you have a greater advantage than other snakes."

The two spent a little more time arguing and debating before others started to descend from their sleeping them were the two she'd met in McGonagall's office along with the red head they'd sat next to during the feast. Hermione smiled when she saw Rain and brightened when her eyes moved to Heston.

"Would you like to head to breakfast with us?" She asked cheerfully.

Rain gave an apologetic shrug. "Sorry, but I promised my brother that I'd go and see him on my way to the great hall." Heston gave a small hiss in agreement.

That had Harry's attention in an instant. "Is that _your_ snake?" He asked with surprise.

Glancing down at the snake with amusement, Rain chuckled. "Yeah. His name's Heston. Oh, and if he makes you uncomfortable I can ditch him in my brother's office until Hagrid has the chance to meet him."

When all three shook their heads, she smiled. She a second to tell Heston to behave before heading towards the entrance. "Then I'll see you guys in a few minutes." She called before disappearing through the hole in the wall.

As the portrait of the Fat Lady swung back into place, Rain began the climb to the Ancient Runes classroom where Chris had ordered her to meet him the night before, rather inclined to hate the thing called gravity.

After a few minutes of climbing stairs and backtracking, Rain finally made it to the meeting spot where her brother was standing patiently, though clearly trying to hide a smirk. Rain rolled her eyes and turned around without any indication of waiting for the man to catch up. Soon enough the two stood at the entrance to the great hall and said their short farewells before making their way to their respective tables. Seeing Draco and her other slytherin friends all gathered together, Rain waved before making her way toward the Gryffindor table where found a seat across from a pair of red headed Weasley twins.

"New third-year course schedules." George said, passing a single paper to Rain before passing the rest to Harry and a very happy looking Hermione. "What's up with you, Harry?" He continued, looking to the boy in question, but before he could reply, Ron answered in his place.

"Malfoy." He murmured as he glared at the blonde across the hall.

Rain sighed and followed Ron's gaze just in time to see Draco do a terrible imitation of fainting.

"That little git." George said smoothly. "He wasn't so cocky last night when the dementors were down at our end of the train." He continued, and Rain didn't blame him for what he said. Friend or not, Draco was being hypocritical and she wouldn't cover for that. "Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"

The other twin nodded. "Nearly wet himself." He gave the group of slytherins a brief haughty stare.

Electing to protect her friendships with both Draco and the Weasleys, Rain tuned out the rest of the conversation in favor of looking at her schedule as Hermione had been doing for the last few minutes. She chuckled when the girl started to talk happily about new classes.

"What courses did you choose?" Rain asked with interest, praying that she wasn't stuck in Chris's class all alone. "I have divination care of magical creatures and ancient runes."

Ron glanced at the paper over Hermione's shoulder with a look of horror. "Hermione," He said uncertainly, "They've messed up you schedule. Look―they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough _time._ "

Hermione rolled her eyes as she responded and rain couldn't help but give a snort. "I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."

After a small and pointless session of fix the problem with Ron and Hermione, Hagrid showed up carried a dead animal of some kind. Rain thought it looked suspiciously similar to a ferret but decided it better that she didn't ask for confirmation. A dead animal was a dead animal and that's where she stopped.

The half giant sounded eager as he spoke and after processing what he'd said, Rain couldn't blame him. If it was his first year and he was teaching about the creatures he loved so much, he had every right to be eager to share that love of animals with others.

When Hagrid eventually went up to the staff table, Ron gave a fearful comment and the rest of the group started rushing to finish their breakfasts. That was when Rain realised she'd been so interested in what what was going on around her that she forgot to eat anything. Shrugging, she grabbed a piece of bacon and a slice of toast, wrapped them in a handkerchief and placed them gently in her robe pocket. That would have to tie her over until lunch.

Standing she began her journey to the north tower, waving once again when she passed her slytherin friends. She would have stopped to talk but, knowing her sense of direction or lack thereof, if it took the other third years ten minutes to get there, it would take her at least fifteen.


End file.
